Logan struggles between his unrequited lust for Dr. Gray and the affection that is gladly given him by Rogue. Tangled with discovering his past, it could be too much. T for now. Rogue/Wolverine. ON HOLD

Rogue knocked on the door, listening carefully. Logan had promised to take care of her and he had, pulled her from Magnito's awful machine, and nearly sacrificed himself for her sake. Rogue needed to thank him and to make sure that he was okay. When he'd been brought in and laid out on the table, old wounds open and bleeding like fresh ones, it had been too much. She'd come back to check on him later, once, and had overheard something that put her hurting in her room for the rest of the day. Childish of her to hide away, but Logan had promised to be there for her.

The door eased open and Logan smiled out at her, his chest bare and sweats hanging low on his hips. Rogue kept her eyes on his. "Rogue, how you feeling?"

"Fine," she said tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Nervous habit, she knew, and wondered if she'd be able to stop it. "You? You looked…terrible, before and it was-"

"Not your fault. It was all Magnito, so don't even think that way." Logan's hand gripped the door pulling it open wider. "Come on in, we have to talk anyway." He moved aside, going to his dresser and pulling out an undershirt.

Rogue sat tentatively on the edge of his bed, watching him put the white undershirt on. He pulled open the second drawer and it screeched in protest. Rogue grimaced and laughed nervously. "Guess it's old, huh?"

"Like Xavier, I'm sure." Logan laughed and pulled a gray t-shirt over his head. He didn't turn around to look at her; he kept his hands moving and pulled out a blue button up.

His hesitation and awkwardness was obvious to her. While they'd only known each other a short time, a lot had happened within that time and they'd gotten close enough. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Uh, mm." Logan focused on buttoning up his shirt, eyes not moving towards her. After he'd taken quite enough time with that he slowly looked up and shifted his stance a couple of times. "I'm leaving, for a while. There's something I need to check out, answers I need to get."

Mouth working silently a few times, Rogue found her words, "Oh, well I understand. About your past?"

"Nightmares." Rogue stood up and clasped her hands in front of her, black gloves smooth against one another. "I'll be fine, don't worry about it. You've put yourself out there enough for me." She moved quickly, meaning to be out of the door before Logan could stop her.

He caught her about the wrist before she could make it even a step out of the door. He spun her around and closed the door, pushing her up against it. "I'm not abandoning you, I promised to take care of you. Just give me two weeks. I swear I'll be back here, Rogue."

"It's all right; your heart belongs to someone else." Rogue looked down and tried to pull her wrist from Logan's grasp.

Logan wasn't sure how the quick change came over him, but at hearing the words he'd said to a woman who couldn't love him come from one who was infatuated with him, something snapped inside of him. "Marie, I'm not sure I was right about that." Logan leaned down and pressed his lips gently to hers, giving her a soft, quick kiss. He pulled back before her skin could pull his life from him.

Rogue gasped and stopped pulling away from him, just stared up and blinked a few times. She reached up with her free hand and tucked her hair again, though it didn't need tucking.

It was an endearing habit of hers, Logan thought. He stepped back, letting her go. "I'll be back, I promise."

He watched her pull the door open and stumble out then shook his head. Logan knew he was an idiot. He shouldn't be pulling her around like that, tangling her emotions, or giving her hope he wasn't sure he could follow through with. There was something about Dr. Gray he wasn't sure he could get rid of, even though she was with Cyclops.

It was almost worth vying for her affections just to bother that smug bastard.

But Rogue was just a young woman, still confused with her change, and certainly not ready for the issues Logan was sure he had. Logan had a feeling his past was more than complicated and his temper was uncontrollable, not to mention his emotions circled around faster than even he could keep track of. Perhaps he'd just made a big mistake.

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